A Whole Lotta Lotto: 2nd Drawing To Start

October 31, 1990|By MARK DAVIDSON Staff Writer

NEWPORT NEWS — Loretta Stephenson usually spends $5 a week on Lotto tickets, but on Tuesday she was doubling her bet. With drawings changing from once to twice a week starting today, she doesn't want to miss any opportunity to win.

"I'm going to spend $10 a week now," said Stephenson, a widow living on Social Security. "It's worth it. If you don't win, it still makes a good hobby."

Stephenson, who buys her tickets at the Zip-In on Jefferson Avenue, is just the active type of player the Virginia Lottery is counting on to help support its twice-weekly Lotto drawings.

While lottery officials say the new Wednesday game will help spread out the Lotto's bulging jackpots and give more people a chance to win, they also hope for a 20 percent jump in ticket sales - much of it from players who will see a second game as an incentive to buy twice as many chances.

"The realities are that when a lottery goes to a second drawing, the minimum increase in sales is 10 percent. I've seen it as high as 80 percent," said Duane Burke of the Maryland-based Public Gaming magazine.

He said most of the new revenue would come from current players who increase, even double, their ticket purchases. Other players, he said, will continue buying once a week or will simply spread their ticket-buying budget over the two drawings.

Paula Otto, spokeswoman for the Virginia Lottery, said the state had planned to double the number of Lotto games even before the weekly Saturday drawings began in January. Because recent sales have been brisk, the state decided to move ahead with the plan now.

"We felt players were really ready for a second drawing," Otto said. "It was definitely in the plans."

Jackpots for Lotto - a game in which players pick a combination of six numbers from 1 to 44 - are determined by weekly sales of $1 tickets. If there is no winner one week, the jackpot is rolled over to the next drawing.

The state must generate $1.3 million in ticket sales to cover the cost of each drawing, Otto said. If there are two games a week, income must be at least $2.6 million.

Until July, weekly sales hovered around $2 million. After two exceptional jackpots over the summer - one of them $22 million - weekly sales have never fallen below $3 million.

"We feel that gives us enough to be able to support a second drawing," Otto said.

Burke, of Public Gaming magazine, said it's typical for lottery participation to rise and stay high after the public becomes aware of how big the payoff can be.

"It isn't usually until there is a huge jackpot until the press takes a real interest in it," Burke said. "With television and newspapers letting the world know, `Hey, there's something unusual going on,' you get a lot more people participating from then on. It's an education process."

Otto said a second drawing each week should make life easier for retailers who are flooded with last-minute ticket buyers at the end of each week.

"We do 80 percent of sales on Friday and Saturday," Otto said. "That means long lines for retailers, long lines for players. This will help even that out."

Today's Lotto drawing will be at 7:58 p.m.

Of the 31 states with a Lotto game, 24 have gone to twice-weekly drawings, Otto said. The expected increase in revenue could help to alleviate Virginia's $1.4 billion budget deficit, although Otto said that was not a motivation for starting the Wednesday drawings.

"A lot of people find the timing of the second drawing and the state budget crunch as convenient," Otto said. "It was just a coincidence. There has been no pressure from the administration whatsoever to increase sales."

Unlike in 1987, when there was a statewide push to block implementation of a lottery, there has been little pressure against starting a second drawing. Some anti-betting groups who oppose lotteries in general say providing more enticement to place bets will hurt those who are already over their heads.

"I expect for those people who can afford it, it won't be a problem," said Jean Falson, director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. "For those who already cannot afford it, it could be a hardship. Most people overspend in the lottery, especially when there are these exorbitant jackpots."